China’s Communist Party journal editor hangs himself because of political infighting: report

The deputy editor of the Chinese Communist Party’s top theoretical journal has committed suicide, reports said, sending speculation swirling over political infighting, freedom of thought and corruption.

Zhu Tiezhi, 56, a well-known essayist on party theories and the deputy editor-in-chief of Qiushi – ”Seeking Truth” – hanged himself in the magazine’s garage, Chinese media reported.

Citing an unnamed friend, Chinese media group Caixin said he had been depressed by ideological disputes in recent years between reformists and increasingly vocal conservative academics.

If the ruling party cannot solve real problems “ideological debates would become empty talk to undermine the mutual trust between the party, the government it leads and the people”, it quoted one of Zhu’s articles as reading.

Under China’s President Xi Jinping, authorities have tightened the space for debate both within the party and in wider society.

Zhu believed a scholar must preserve his integrity, independent way of thinking and unique views, the report cited the friend saying.